Talk:List of Classical Greek phrases

Comments
I have a phrase that might be added to this list...in Herodotus (6.129) there is the story of Hippocleides, and the phrase "Hippocleides doesn't care." He says that it became a common phrase throughout Greece, and people still use it (T.E. Lawrence, for one, and everyone else I know who has read the story :) Is that appropriate for this list? If so, what is it in Greek? I have found one Internet reference to "Hippokleides ou phrontis," but I have no idea. I also don't really know how to transliterate it...would it be 'Ιπποκλειδες ου φροντις, assuming that is actually the translation? Adam Bishop 22:46, 25 Oct 2003 (UTC)
 * οὐ φροντὶς - it has been listed below. I raised a point on the translation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Clouds_Hill#%CE%BF%E1%BD%90_%CF%86%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%BD%CF%84%E1%BD%B6%CF%82  Shtove 15:13, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Your quote, "to commit the same sin twice....." isn't that translated to english as "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.228.203.94 (talk) 03:43, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Sources?
This list would be much more useful if the sources of the phrases were included. rossb 22:56, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC) Agreed! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.0.178.183 (talk) 16:49, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

&Gamma;&lambda;&alpha;&#8166;&kappa;’ &#7944;&theta;&#8053;&nu;&alpha;&zeta;&epsilon;
It is generally but erroneously believed that "owls" referred to living owls. Yet unlike eagles, owls cannot be trained, and carried away.

Owl was the common name of the Athenian drachma. Alternatively Corinth had pegasus (stater).

I just realized that I spoiled "coals to Newcastle" which should be i.e. "pounds to London" or "dollars to Washington"

See also "reverse" of coin in Greek drachma--Odysses 19:15, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

- I found a little reference on --Odysses 19:40, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Hmm...my apologies then, I never thought of it like that. I always assumed Athens just had a lot of owls, not trained, but just living there naturally. Or that they were referring to Athena... Adam Bishop 19:48, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. I was told the same version at school. I read about the second version during a coin collecting period.--Odysses 20:10, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Socrates
The phrase Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι ουδὲν οἶδα is attributed to Socrates but it is not found as such in the Apology. Here is what is written there: ἀλλ' οὗτος μὲν οἴεταί τι εἰδέναι οὐκ εἰδώς, ἐγὼ δέ, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ οἶδα, οὐδὲ οἴομαι: ἔοικα γοῦν τούτου γε σμικρῷ τινι αὐτῷ τούτῳ σοφώτερος εἶναι, ὅτι ἃ μὴ οἶδα οὐδὲ οἴομαι εἰδέναι. Andreas 19:44, 12 January 2006 (UTC)¨
 * Sometimes mottos of philosophers include concealed meanings. I have also heard of the short version Ἓν οἶδα (I know the One), which has an opposite meaning, i.e. that Socrates had actually recognized divinity or God.--Odysses 14:18, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Virgil
Is "I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts" actually a famous Greek phrase? Did they translate it from the Latin and use it later? (Or did Virgil translate a Greek phrase?) Adam Bishop 23:12, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't think this phrase is Homeric or Greek. It was Virgil who gave Laocoön this line.
 * Φοβοῦ τοὺς Δαναοὺς καὶ δῶρα φέροντες was probably translated from Latin into Greek.--Odysses 12:46, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Classical Greek phrases
This is a cool article, I enjoyed reading it. The title actually threw me off though. Since Greek is still spoken today, I'd expect an article of this title to be about, say, how to get directions to a hostel or order some wine. Perhaps it should be titled "A list of Classical Greek phrases"? Ocicat 16:32, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Concerning this and the question about Vergil's line: SPOILSPORTS! Yes, the line is best known from the Aeneid, yes the article probably should be disambiguated. But, a more accurate title would be "A list of Ancient Greek phrases," since "Classical" Greek is a specific form which would could be construed to refer only to the 5th Century BCE. Ancient Greek would definitely cover everything from Homer to Ptolemy (with an easement on both sides). The Dogandpony 16:11, 2 February 2006 (UTC)΄


 * I would suggest Classical Greek instead of Ancient Greek. Classical is more specific. Ancient is quite arbitrary. Today, we might call for example Plato an Ancient, but Plato in turn, called others ancients:


 * the modern interpreters of Homer may, I think, assist in explaining the view of the ancients (Cratylus)


 * there is an ancient saying, that "hard is the knowledge of the good (Cratylus)--Odysses 15:22, 15 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I have taken the lack of dissent on this topic over the last 17 years, plus the support for this change on other sections of this talk page, as consensus that the current title is too vague. There are many forms of Greek, and modern Greek is currently spoken by approximately 12.5 million people. For this reason I believe the title should clearly reflect that there is no modern Greek on this page. I've therefore moved the page to "List of Classical Greek phrases". If you disagree please reply here to suggest an alternative and why it would be preferable. Djelibey (talk) 11:38, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

What about: The final entry of the Enchiridion, or Handbook, begins: "Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand":

Conduct me, Zeus, and thou, O Destiny, Wherever thy decree has fixed my lot. I follow willingly; and, did I not, Wicked and wretched would I follow still. (Diogenes Laertius quoting Cleanthes; quoted also by Seneca, Epistle 107.)"

Whoe'er yields properly to Fate is deemed Wise among men, and knows the laws of Heaven. (From Euripides' Fragments, 965)

O Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be. (From Plato's Crito)

Anytus and Meletus may indeed kill me, but they cannot harm me. (From Plato's Apology)121.222.142.85 (talk) 23:48, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

Wikiquote and Here
Wikiquote has a page for quotes by Archimedes (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Archimedes), and the Greek they use for his quote (Give me a fulcrum and a place to stand, and I will move the world) is different from the Greek here. Which is correct, or are they both correct? 141.149.207.158 16:38, 2 August 2006 (UTC)


 * There is no "fulcrum" (υπομόχλιον) in the Greek text. Πα στώ, literaly means "where to stand", or "a place to stand"--Odysses (&#9756;) 18:48, 15 October 2006 (UTC).

Two (three?) things:
1) This page should be moved to either Classical or Ancient (with redirects, for the time being).

2) Statements should be cited better. Why is there a quote from Nero here?  I'd like to know where it came from.  He wasn't a ruler of Greece.

3) Κάθε πράγμα στο καιρό του κι'ο κολιός τον Αύγουστο ... I've only ever seen the preposition στο in modern greek, and in none of the old stuff I've read. Had it shown up by the time of Koine?  If not, this shouldn't be on here, though the contributor might not know that because this article is misnamed

Merry Xmas and new year
All the best to the contributors of this highly entertaining list. May it thrive. Politis 11:43, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

2007-02-24 Automated pywikipediabot message
--CopyToWiktionaryBot 04:22, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Wikiquote
Moving this material to Wikiquote creates a language problem: if moved to Greek Wikiquote, the English explanations will be lost. The English Wikiquote contains quotes in English, however there is a page q:Greek proverbs containing mainly Modern Greek material. Andreas (T) 17:22, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Ancient or modern Greek?
Please give a modern version of all ancient greek phrase —Preceding unsigned comment added by Michaeldadmum (talk • contribs) 08:48, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

&Alpha;

 * Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ
 * ἄγραφος νόμος
 * Ἀεὶ Λιβύη φέρει τι κακόν.
 * αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν
 * Ἀετοῦ γῆρας, κορυδοῦ νεότης.
 * ἄλφα καὶ ὦ
 * Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος.
 * Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα
 * Ἄνθρωπον ζητῶ.
 * ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός
 * Αὐτὸς ἔφα.

&Beta;

 * Βάλανε το λύκο να φυλάει τα πρόβατα.
 * βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν
 * Βελλεροφόντης τά γράμματα
 * βιβλιοθήκη ἔμψυχος
 * Βίος ἀνεόρταστος μακρὰ ὁδὸς ἀπανδόκευτος.
 * Βουλεύου δὲ πρὸ ἔργου, ὅπως μὴ μῶρα πέληται.
 * Βρήκε ο Φίλιππος τον Ναθαναήλ.
 * Βρῶμα θεῶν

&Gamma;

 * Γεια σου.
 * Γένοιο οἷος ἔσσι.
 * Γελῶ δὲ ὁρέων γῆς περιόδους γράψαντας.
 * γενιά του ’30
 * Γηράσκω δ’ αιεί πολλά διδασκόμενος.
 * Γίγνωσκε καιρόν.
 * Γλαῦκ᾿ εἰς Ἀθήνας
 * Γνῶθι σεαυτόν.
 * Γόρδιον δεσμόν
 * γυμνῆ κεφαλῆ

&Delta;

 * Δαμόκλειος σπάθη
 * δεῖμα Πανικόν
 * Δελφικὰ παραγγέλματα
 * Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα.
 * Δεν μυρίζουν.
 * Διαίρει καὶ βασίλευε.
 * Δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ Καρχηδόνα μὴ εἶναι.
 * δῶρον τοῦ ποταμοῦ
 * Δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω.

&Epsilon;

 * Ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτα.
 * ᾿Εγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις
 * Εἰ μὴ Ἀλέξανδρος ἤμην, Διογένης ἂν ἤμην.
 * Εἰ στρατεύσεις ἐπὶ τοὺς Πέρσας, μεγάλην ἀρχὴν καταλύσεις.
 * Εἷς μοι μύριοι, ἐὰν ἄριστος ἦν.
 * Είμαστε δυό είμαστε τρείς...
 * Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος!
 * Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖς.

&Zeta;

 * Ζεύς πανδημος
 * Ζούμε μόνοι, πεθαίνουμε μόνοι, το ενδιάμεσο φωτεινό σημείο το λέμε ζωή.
 * Ζω σαν πασάς στα Γιάννενα.
 * Ζωῆς πονηρᾶς θάνατος αἱρετώτερος.
 * ζώνην λύειν
 * ζῷον λόγον ἔχον
 * ζῷον πολιτικὸν

&Eta;

 * η Επταετία
 * η κότα με τα χρυσά αυγά
 * η Πόλη
 * Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς.
 * Ἡ φύσις οὐδὲν ποιεῖ ἅλματα.
 * Ἠλύσιον Πεδίον
 * Ἦλθον, εἶδον, ἐνίκησα.
 * Ἦθος, ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων.
 * Ἡνίκα Πυθαγόρης το περικλεες εὕρετο γράμμα.

&Theta;

 * Θάλασσα καὶ πῦρ καὶ γυνή, κακὰ τρία.
 * Θαρρεῖτε γῆν ὁρῶ.
 * Θᾶττον ἔην λευκους κόρακας πτηνάς τε χελώνας.
 * Θέλει αρετή και τόλμη η ελευθερία.
 * θέρος, τρύγος, πόλεμος.
 * Θνητὰ φρονεῖ.

&Iota;

 * Ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν·
 * Ἰδοῦ Ῥόδος, καὶ ἀποπήδησον.
 * Ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος
 * ἱερός γάμος
 * Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ Bασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
 * Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Υἱὸς Σωτήρ
 * Ἰχθὺν νηχέσθαι διδάσκεις.

&Kappa;

 * Καὶ εἶδον οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν·
 * Καὶ σὺ τέκνον.
 * Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ᾠόν.
 * Κακὸς ἀνήρ μακρόβιος.
 * καλὸν κακὸν
 * Κάτθανε, Διαγόρα, οὐ καὶ ἐς Ὂλυμπον ἀναβήσῃ.
 * κοινὴ εἰρήνη
 * κοπίδων ἀρχηγός
 * κύκνειον ᾆσμα
 * Kύριε ἐλέησον.
 * Κύριε, ποῦ ὑπάγεις;

&Lambda;

 * Λάθε βιώσας.
 * λέγειν τὰ λεγόμενα
 * Λέκτρα δ’ ἀνδρῶν πόθῳ πίµπλαται δακρύµασιν.
 * Λιμὴν πέφυκε πᾶσι παιδεία βροτοῖς.
 * Λυποῦντα λύπει, καὶ φιλοῦνθ’ ὑπερφίλει.

&Mu;

 * μαιευτική τέχνη
 * μακάρων νῆσοι
 * Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι.
 * Μᾶτερ ὦ χρυσοστεφάνων ἀέθλων, Οὐλυμπία
 * Μέγα βιβλίον, μέγα κακόν.
 * Μεγάλη Θάλασσα
 * Μελέτη τὸ πᾶν.
 * Μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ.
 * Μετανοεῖτε.
 * Μέτρον ἄριστον.
 * Μὴ γένοιτο.
 * Μή μου ἅπτου.
 * Μή μου τοὺς κύκλους τάραττε.
 * Μηδὲν ἄγαν.
 * Μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληιάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
 * Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.
 * Μικρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μετάστηθι.
 * Μολὼν λαβέ.

&Nu;

 * Νενικήκαμεν.
 * Νενίκηκά σε Σολομῶν.
 * Νεφελοκοκκυγία
 * Νίκη ή Θάνατος
 * Νίψον ἀνομήματα μὴ μόναν ὄψιν.
 * Νόμος ὁ πάντων βασιλεύς.
 * Nῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα.

&Xi;

 * Ξένος ὢν ἀκολούθει τοῖς ἐπιχωρίοις νόμοις.
 * Ξένους ξένιζε, καὶ σὺ γὰρ ξένος γ’ ἔσῃ μήποτε ξένος γένῃ.
 * Ξίφος τιτρώσκει σῶμα, τὸν δὲ νοῦν λόγος.
 * Ξυνὸν γὰρ ἀρχὴ καὶ πέρας ἐπὶ κύκλου περιφερείας.
 * ξύλινο τείχος

&Omicron;

 * ὃ γέγραφα γέγραφα
 * Ὁ μὲν βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρά.
 * Ὁ μὴ δαρεὶς ἄνθρωπος οὐ παιδεύεται.
 * Ὁ θεòς ἀγάπη ἐστίν.
 * Ὅμηρον ἔϕασκεν ἄξιον ἐκ τῶν ἀγώνων ἐκβάλλεσθαι καὶ ῥαπίζεσθαι καὶ Ἀρχίλοχον ὁμοίως.
 * Ὁδὸς βραχεῖα γίγνεται μακρά.
 * οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοί.
 * οἱ πολλοί
 * Οἶδα οὐκ εἰδώς.
 * ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι
 * ὅρα τέλος μακροῦ βίου.
 * Οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ.
 * Οὔτοι συνέχθειν, ἀλλὰ συμφιλεῖν ἔφυν.
 * Οὖτις ἐμοὶ γ᾿ ὄνομα.
 * ὄψει δέ με περὶ Φιλίππους.

&Pi;

 * Παθήματα - μαθήματα
 * Πάντα ῥεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει.
 * Πᾶς ἐρρίφθω κύβος.
 * Πᾶσα γυνὴ χόλος ἐστίν·
 * Πάτερ ἡμῶν
 * πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη
 * Πλεῖν ἀνάγκη, ζῆν οὐκ ἀνάγκη.
 * πλεύσειν εἴς Ἀντικυρας
 * Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι.
 * Πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ κ' οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει.
 * Πόνος πόνῳ πόνον φέρει.
 * Ποταμῷ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμβῆναι δὶς τῷ αὐτῷ.
 * Ποῦ κεῖται;

&Rho;

 * Ῥανὶς ἐνδελεχοῦσα κοιλαίνει πέτραν.
 * Ῥῆμα παράκαιρον τὸν ὅλον ἀνατρέπει βίον.
 * Ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς

&Rho;

 * Σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος.
 * Σῶμα - σῆμα.
 * Σπεῦδε βραδέως.

&Tau;

 * Τὰ Καίσαρος ἀπόδοτε Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ.
 * Τίς πόθεν εἰς ἀνδρῶν;
 * τὸν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν

&Upsilon;

 * Ὕες βορβόρῳ ἥδονται μᾶλλον ἢ καθαρῷ ὕδατι.
 * Ὕστερον πρότερον.

Doesn't this translate to "after the fact" in English? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.228.203.94 (talk) 03:36, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

&Upsilon;

 * Ὕβριν χρὴ σβεννύναι μᾶλλον ἢ πυρκαϊήν.
 * Ὕες βορβόρῳ ἥδονται μᾶλλον ἢ καθαρῷ ὕδατι.
 * υἱὸς μονογενὴς
 * υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
 * Ὕμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς·
 * Ὕπαγε, σατανᾶ.
 * Ὕστερον πρότερον

&Phi;

 * φησίν σιωπών
 * Φειδίας μ᾿ ἐποίησε.
 * Φιλοπόνει, ὦ παῖ, μὴ δαρῇς.
 * Φύσει γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, ὃ βούλεται, τοῦτο καὶ οἴεται.
 * φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ
 * Φῶς - Ζωή

&Chi;

 * Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ κύριος μετὰ σοῦ.
 * Χαίρετε.
 * Χαλεπὰ τὰ καλά.
 * Χεῖρ χεῖρα νίπτει.
 * Χριστος ανεστι.
 * χρυσᾶ ὄρη ὑπισχνεῖσθαι
 * Χρώμεθα γὰρ πολιτείᾳ

&Psi;

 * Ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀθάνατη·
 * ψυχὴ θρεπτική
 * Ψυχῆς ἰατρεῖον
 * Ψυχῆς μέγας χαλινὸς ἀνθρώποις ὁ νοῦς.

&Omega;

 * Ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι.
 * Ὦ δέσποτα, μέμνησο Ἀθηναίων.
 * Ὦ παῖδες Ἑλλήνων ἴτε, ἐλευθεροῦτε πατρίδ'.
 * Ὦ ξεῖν᾿, ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.
 * ὡς ἐν ἄλλῳ κόσμῳ
 * ὦ ξένε

Game Challenge
I need to know how these words fit into a phrase. The words are....IT OM LTI MUL MU TA; MO NE NIA NOV —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.211.41.6 (talk) 12:33, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

English
Why the hell is a English Wiki page written and organized along greek lines? I, the average man and reader, am looking for a phrase and greek, very bloody likely I don't speak it well enough to read the alphabet and know what the n letter even looks like. Alright, I personally do, but still, the average person can't tell w from lower case omega, what good is this article's structure to him? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.112.16.133 (talk) 05:11, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Romanization
The transliteration scheme used in Romanizing the Greek in this article is horrendously inconsistent. The Romanization of perispomene ranges from the circumflex to the macron to nothing, hypopegrammene is sometimes an "i" and sometimes nothing, umicron is sometimes "u" and sometimes "y", "ου" is given as "ū" once (that might be a Modern quote, though, which is a separate issue in itself), etc. Somebody should go through and make it all consistent sometime. 64.179.155.63 (talk) 20:16, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Veni, vidi, vici - Greek Quote
Veni, vidi, vici - Greek Quote? Julius Caesar was a Roman General. is not it? --Tito Dutta (Send me a message) 12:02, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Changes by 194.157.127.66
The IP user 194.157.127.66 made three changes. These are changes he/she apparently made before, but I modified back. Two are translations of a phrase, one an explanation:


 * 1) διπλοῦν ὁρῶσιν οἱ μαθόντες γράμματα.
 * "The sight of those who can read is worth twice as much (as of those who cannot)."
 * 1) ἅπαξ λεγόμενον
 * An order that has to be carried out immediatelly, without having to repeat it (without question). -or- Something that once it is said changes things irreversibly.
 * 1) μὴ μοῦ τοὺς κύκλους τάραττε
 * "Do not disturb my thoughts."

I don't consider these valuable changes. The first, a translation, is not an accurate literal translation of the Greek. It is what the phrase is idiomatically used to mean, but the translation should be literal and the idiomatic meaning explained below it. The second, an explanation, is not what the phrase is actually used to mean, at least according to the OED and the first sites coming up in a Google search. A source is needed. The third, a translation, is not accurate: κύκλος does not mean "thought".

I am therefore going to either revert or modify these changes. If there are disagreements, explain them here. — Eru·tuon 01:53, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

"Inscription" image removed
About my removal here [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Greek_phrases&diff=prev&oldid=478521028]: please see commons:File:Kalisti.jpg for reasons. Fut.Perf. ☼ 07:23, 24 February 2012 (UTC)


 * What you're saying here: "This isn't an "inscription", and it's not the "Euboean alphabet"" makes no sence. You do realize that this is a fragment of the Nestor's Cup, (line 3). If this is not an inscription on this cup, (ΗΙΜΕΡΟΣΗΑΙΡΕΣΕΙ:ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΕΦΑΝΟ:ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΕΣ) what is it?
 * What you're saying here: "This isn't an "inscription", and it's not the "Euboean alphabet"" makes no sence. You do realize that this is a fragment of the Nestor's Cup, (line 3). If this is not an inscription on this cup, (ΗΙΜΕΡΟΣΗΑΙΡΕΣΕΙ:ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΕΦΑΝΟ:ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΕΣ) what is it?


 * Do you really propose that the phrase in this article should change into:


 * "καλλίστει"
 * and the image should be:


 * Does anyone else agree with this proposition?--Odysses (₪) 13:24, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Huh? I never said there is no inscription on the N.C. But there isn't this inscription. It's a different word. What's written on the N.C. has nothing to do with the phrase this article is about. The image you produced is a fake inscription. And as I explained elsewhere, the spelling you concocted with your "reconstruction" doesn't match any known archaic Greek script, Euboean or otherwise. Nobody would ever have spelled the word "καλλίστῃ" like this. And what makes you think I would want to propose changing the text of this article to some archaic spelling? Of course, the listing in the text will use the regularized classical spelling. But if you want an additional illustration, then why do you insist on a fake, made-up example, rather than using one of the many authentic ones that doubtless exist? Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:21, 24 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Ah so, now "there is an inscription on Nestor's Cup" but this inscription (just for the record, introduced by another user) appears to be a fake inscription.
 * Furthermore you ask: "why do you insist on a fake, made-up example, rather than using one of the many authentic ones that doubtless exist", prior to the regularized classical spelling.


 * As indicated in this artice, "καλλίστει" is a word/expression in Homer's Iliad. Do you really have in mind an example of an "authentic'" inscription contemporary to Homer? --Odysses (₪) 21:59, 24 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Oh dear. No, of course not. An authentic example from whatever period you wish. Or none at all. I don't care. But please no made-up example like this, which combines thoroughly modern orthography with archaic letter forms from one randomly picked, obscure provincial dialect, in an utterly ahistorical way, and for no other reason than that some random archaeological object happens to contain a word containing the same word stem (in an entirely different context). Fut.Perf. ☼ 22:50, 24 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Aside from that very valid argument, the "made-up" image is also pretty ugly. I mean it's really quite obvious that the author manipulated the image on a computer. It's distracting; but on the other hand if it was done more expertly, readers might be led to believe that it is real, which would still be a problem. Adam Bishop (talk) 10:07, 25 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Aside from that, another user complained that the inscription is reversed, end-for-end and requested rotation - Παπαί, Μαρδόνιε!!! --Odysses (₪) 15:55, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Αεί ο Θεός γεωμετρεί
Maybe a modern "poem" by Nikolaos Hatzidakis should be added under this phrase. The poem is as follows:

Αεί ο Θεός ο μέγας γεωμετρεί, το κύκλου μήκος ίνα ορίση διαμέτρω, παρήγαγεν αριθμόν απέραντον, καί όν, φεύ, ουδέποτε όλον θνητοί θα εύρωσι.

This is based on the saying by Plato and serves as a mnemonic for π, in the same way that it is described in the article already, although from this version the digits of π that are derived are increased to 23.

3,1415926535897932384626

It roughly translates to:

Always the great God geometrizes, in order to define the length of the circle through (it's) diameter, produced (an) infinite number, and, what a shame, never will the mortals find it whole. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.68.208.174 (talk) 22:11, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Recent deletions
Why not mention the source of phrases that come from other langs rather than take them out? And if this a list of "Classical" Greek phrases why is the title of the page not that? — Lfdder (talk) 22:17, 28 June 2013 (UTC)


 * This is a page in the English Wikipedia. The only reason to include items in a list of "Greek phrases" in the context of the English Wikipedia is if these phrases are notable as Greek, in English. Things like morituri te salutant are Latin phrases and only ever cited as Latin phrases in an English context. They may have a conventional rendering in Greek, but that rendering is only used by speakers of Modern Greek, in the context of Modern Greek. They might be interesting for a Greek dictionary, but not for an encyclopedic coverage of notable Greek phrases. Fut.Perf. ☼ 22:32, 28 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Fair enough. — Lfdder (talk) 22:38, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

Corpus Paroemiographorum Graecorum
vol 1, vol 2 might come in handy to future editors... ;-) P.S.I've just used it for the first time here... Thanatos|talk|contributions 13:11, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Alternative renderings
οἶνοψ πόντος Oînops póntos "Wine dark sea" Hesychius has οινόπη αμπέλλου μελαίνης είδος, so from a dark type of vine. However, strictly speaking oinops as an epithet of Pontos simply means: Sea as wine. One lay explanation I recently read, was that it may be an allusion to the effect a rough sea has on the mind, rather than a reference to its colour.

ἀνδρῶν γὰρ ἐπιφανῶν πᾶσα γῆ τάφος Andrôn gàr epiphanôn pâsa gê táphos. Alternatively, possibly closer to the meaning of the original: For illustrious men every place on earth may be their grave.

and εἷς οἰωνὸς ἄριστος, ἀμύνεσθαι περὶ πάτρης Heîs oiōnòs áristos, amýnesthai perì pátrēs Perhaps slightly more accurately, There is no better omen than the defense of one's fatherland. Skamnelis (talk) 10:50, 26 May 2014 (UTC)